Professional Football Player and Coach, College Football Coach. For fifteen seasons (1957 to 1964 and 1966 to 1972), he played at the linebacker position in the National Football League with the Los Angeles Rams and Washington Redskins. Born John Perry Pardee, he was raised in Texas where he attended Cristoval High School and was a part of their six-man football team. He played collegiate football at Texas A&M and while with the Aggies, he excelled under legendary coach Paul 'Bear' Bryant as a contributor to the Texas A&M 1956 squad for which produced an undefeated season and clinched a conference title. Selected by the Rams during the 2nd-round of the 1957 NFL Draft, he totaled 196 regular season games. In 1963 while with the Rams, he earned both Pro-Bowl and First-Team All-Pro honors. He would miss the entire 1965 season following surgery to remove a cancerous tumor on his arm. In spite of this, he resumed his career as he played the next six seasons (1966 to 1971) without missing a game. He concluded his playing career with Washington and was a member of the Redskins' squad that reached Super Bowl VII in 1973. He went onto launch what was to become a lengthy and highly-respected coaching career beginning as head coach of the Florida Blazers of the World Football League in 1974. From 1975 to 1977, he served as head coach of the Chicago Bears and received NFL Coach of the Year recognition in 1976. In 1977, he guided Chicago to a playoff berth. This was followed by a three-year period as head coach of the Redskins (1978 to 1980) and in 1979 he was named NFL Coach of the Year for the second time. During the 1980s, he served as defensive coordinator under Don Coryell with the San Diego Chargers and moved onto the United States Football League to serve as head coach of the Houston Gamblers. He served as the head coach at the University of Houston and guided the Cougars to an appearance in the Aloha Bowl in 1988. He concluded his coaching career as head coach of the Birmingham Barracudas of the Canadian Football League in 1995, thus earning him the distinction of coaching in four different professional football leagues (WFL, NFL, USFL and CFL). He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1986. Pardee died following a lengthy battle with cancer. (bio by: C.S.)